a b s t r a c tDirect fermentation of cellulosic biomass to bioethanol has been very promising and hence attracted attention in recent years. In this study, bioethanol production from apple pomace hydrolysate (agroindustrial waste product) was investigated by coculturing Trichoderma harzianum, Aspergillus sojae and Saccharomyces cerevisiae using statistical approaches. Screening and optimization experiments were conducted in order to determine the significant factors and their optimum levels for maximum bioethanol production. Inoculation rates, aeration and agitation speed were considered as factor variables and bioethanol production as response variable. Highest bioethanol (EtOH) concentration and ethanol yield on total reducing sugar content (Y P/S ) were 8.748 g/L and 0.945 g/g, respectively. Optimum conditions were 6% (w/v) inoculation rates of T.harzianum and A.sojae, and 4% (v/v) inoculation rate of S.cerevisiae with vented aeration method and agitation speed of 200 rpm. To best of our knowledge to date, no reports are available in literature regarding the coculturing of T.harzianum, A.sojae and S.cerevisiae for bioethanol production. Therefore, this study will serve as a base line of initial studies in this field. The method can create a renewable alternative feedstock for fossil fuel production and suggest a feasible solution to multiple environmental problems simultaneously creating a sink for waste utilization.

Polygalacturonases (PGs), an important industrial enzyme group classified under depolymerases, catalyze the hydrolytic cleavage of the polygalacturonic acid chain through the introduction of water across the oxygen bridge. In order to produce and increase the concentration of this enzyme group in fermentation processes, a new approach called microparticle cultivation, a promising and remarkable method, has been used. The aim of this study was to increase the PG activity of using aluminum oxide (AlO) as microparticles in shake flask fermentation medium. Results indicated that the highest PG activity of 34.55 ± 0.5 U/ml was achieved with the addition of 20 g/L of AlO while the lowest activity of 15.20 ± 0.2 U/mL was obtained in the presence of 0.1 g/L of AlO. In fermentation without microparticles as control, the activity was 15.64 ± 3.3 U/mL. Results showed that the maximum PG activity was 2.2-fold higher than control. Additionally, smaller pellets formed with the addition of AlO where the lowest pellet diameter was 955.1 µm when 10 g/L of the microparticle was used. Also, it was noticed that biomass concentration gradually increased with increasing microparticle concentration in the fermentation media. Consequently, the PG activity was significantly increased in microparticle-enhanced shake flask fermentation. In fact, these promising preliminary data can be of significance to improve the enzyme activity in large-scale bioreactors.

Lentil derived proteins have the capacity to chelate iron minerals and hydrolysed protein–iron complexes have functional properties on iron deficiency anemia in in vitro by influencing mRNA levels of iron regulating genes.

The potential of important agro-industrial wastes, apple pomace (AP) and orange peel (OP) as C sources, was investigated in the maximization of polygalacturonase (PG), an industrially significant enzyme, using an industrially important microorganism Aspergillus sojae. Factors such as various hydrolysis forms of the C sources (hydrolysed-AP, non-hydrolysed-AP, hydrolysed-AP + OP, non-hydrolysed-AP + OP) and N sources (ammonium sulphate and urea), and incubation time (4, 6, and 8 days) were screened. It was observed that maximum PG activity was achieved at a combination of non-hydrolysed-AP + OP and ammonium sulphate with eight days of incubation. For the pre-optimization study, ammonium sulphate concentration and the mixing ratios of AP + OP at different total C concentrations (9, 15, 21 g l −1 ) were evaluated. The optimum conditions for the maximum PG production (144.96 U ml −1 ) was found as 21 g l −1 total carbohydrate concentration totally coming from OP at 15 g l −1 ammonium sulphate concentration. On the other hand, 3:1 mixing ratio of OP + AP at 11.50 g l −1 ammonium sulphate concentration also resulted in a considerable PG activity (115.73 U ml −1 ). These results demonstrated that AP can be evaluated as an additional C source to OP for PG production, which in turn both can be alternative solutions for the elimination of the waste accumulation in the food industry with economical returns.

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